Deputy Public Defender Nancy Pogue has been elected
by the judges of the Los Angeles Superior Court as a commissioner, officials
said yesterday.

Pogue, who works in the San Fernando branch office handling
felony cases, could not be reached for comment.

She will fill the
vacancy created by the appointment of John Lawson as a judge on Sept. 1.

One of Pogue’s former
supervisors, Division Chief in Branch and Area Operations Kelly Emling, praised
Pogue as “an extremely dedicated, caring public defender” who had “worked on a
lot of complex cases” and had “a tremendous amount of experience” as an
attorney.

Emling called Pogue
“very, very bright, very tenacious…an excellent writer, and very thorough.”

She emphasized Pogue’s
“ongoing excellent professional reputation” for “getting along very well with
others…very hard working…and having a broad perspective.”

A graduate of UCLA and SouthwesternLawSchool, Pogue was admitted to
the State Bar in 1982.

Under local rules,
vacant commissioner positions are filled by a vote of the judges from a list of
candidates nominated by a court panel. Although the ranking order is not
binding, all commissioners chosen in recent years have been selected in ranked
order.

Following the election
of Pogue, 12 candidates remain on that list in the following order: